If you haven't noticed any updates on Installer recently, is not because Funiculus is abandoned--in fact, far from it. It's because I no longer have a jailbroken iPhone, which is required to develop the jailbroken apps. Instead, I've been using my iPhone to develop Funiculus for the new SDK. Because of a non-disclosure agreement with Apple, I'm not allowed to mention a lot about it.

What I can say is this: Funiculus will have a new name...it will have all new graphics (done by a professional...i.e. someone other than me). It will have all the same features as previous versions, plus more. And it will use the same pitch detection engine. And assuming it gets accepted into the AppStore, it will be extremely affordable.

The iPhone SDK was officially released on Thursday, and the first official 3rd party apps will be available on iTunes this summer. My hope of course is that Apple will allow Funiculus on iTunes. This will make it available to all iPhone users, not just those who have undergone the jailbreaking process. If this is the case, this is my modest goal:

For Funiculus to be the best, most versatile microphone-based guitar tuner in the world...hardware or software. And not-so-incidentally, one of the least expensive, with a price tag anywhere in the range of FREE to $2.

Obviously, it's not there yet. The graphics will be refashioned, and the algorithm will be enhanced even more. Please leave comments on what else Funiculus needs to do better in order to be better than your current tuner. Notice I say "microphone based" because the iPhone obviously doesn't have quarter-inch inputs to plug an electric into. (If someone wants to develop a device that would interface the iPhone with an electric guitar, then I could modify the software to accommodate this, but I don't see this happening.)

In the meantime, jailbroken iPhone users can expect more updates (free of course). For the next version, based in part on suggestions, I will include pitch transposition stuff, more stringed instrument tunings, and new "faces"...a tuning fork module as well as a tap-it-out rhythm module. (For an example of this, you can check out a novelty app I did: "Cowbell", available on Installer.)

Funiculus 0.60 is out...it will be on Installer soon (via the ModMyiFone.com source), but until then, here is a copy for those who want to install it manually:funiculus_0_60.zip

If you do install it manually, be sure to set the permissions. See the previous entry for instructions on how to do this.

For screen shots, take a look at the "Four Faces of Funiculus" entry from a few days earlier. For those updating since the last Installer release (0.50), there are a huge number of changes. For those updating since 0.58, here are the tunings that are now present:

If you need to manually install an app on your jailbroken iPhone (that is, install something without using Installer), you need to do the following things:1. Download and unzip the file you want to install onto your home computer2. Copy the .app folder into the /Applications directory on your iPhone (using SSH or whatever else works)3. Set the permissions on the .app folder and the executable inside that folder.

The best way to do steps 2 & 3 are with an SSH program. This is free software you run on your home computer. (If you use Windows, you can use "PuTTY" and "WinSCP"...download and install both of them.) It interacts with a program on your iPhone called OpenSSH (which you very well may already have...if you don't, you can get it on Installer...use the "Services" program to turn SSH on and off.)

You can also use your SSH program to set permissions of the files (step #3). However, if you use a different method that doesn't allow this, you can also set the permissions using MobileFinder.

Setting permissions on your iPhoneThis is a quick run-through on how to set the permissions on an app by using MobileFinder. The app that we will change the permissions on is Funiculus. (Remember, if you are using Installer, this isn't necessary--Installer does this for you automatically. This is only for manual installations.)

First, make sure you have MobileFinder. It is available on Installer. Run it.

Click on the Apple button at the top.

After clicking on the Apple button, you should find yourself on a screen with an Applications folder. Click on it and open it up.

In the Applications directory, scroll down to find the application we want...in this case, Funiculus. After you have highlighted it, press the "Modify" button at the bottom of the screen.

You should now see the properties of the Funiculus.app folder. Look for the three rows entitled "Owner", "Group", and "Everyone". Make sure it looks like the picture on the left. It should have all of the "Read" buttons selected, as well as all of the "Exec" buttons. After you have done this, click "Done" at the bottom.

You will now be back in the Applications directory. We now need to go inside the Funiculus folder. In order to prevent MobileFinder from running the app when you click on it, you need to first press the "Settings" button at the top of the screen.

In the Settings menu, make sure "Application Launch" is off. If not, rather than show you the contents of the app folder, it will launch the app. We don't want this.

Leave settings by clicking on "Finder".

Back in the Applications directory, double-click on the "Funiculus.app" folder to open it.

In the "Funiculus.app" folder, find the executable file. In this case, it is called simply "funiculus". You need to do the same thing you did for the "Funiculus.app" folder...first highlight it, and then hit the Modify button. Make sure all the "Exec" buttons are selected. And then hit "Done".

You have now set the permissions for both the folder and the executable. You should be able to run it.

Here is a preview of Funiculus version 0.60. For a link to download the beta version (0.58), please scroll down to the bottom of the entry.

Standard Mode:

This mode is essentially the same thing as Funiculus 0.5.

Fretboard Mode:

This mode has a diagram of a fretboard. You first select an instrument/tuning, and then you play a string. Look at the diagram, at the string corresponding to the one you just played. If it's too flat, it will be a shade of blue. Too sharp, a shade of red. If you are in the ballpark, it will be greenish. You should switch to the pitch meter on top at this point to fine tune the string.

Clef Mode:

This mode simply represents the note you play on a musical clef.

About Mode :

Sorry, this is sort of anti-climatic...not much to this mode.

Early version:

Funiculus version 0.60 will be released soon (on Installer), but for those who wish to test the newest version, here is version 0.58 (for manual installation via SSH):funiculus_0_58.zip (Update: see below)There are plenty of known issues, but let me know of any you find anyway. (I haven't even tested the clef mode since I shifted the graphics around...I'm not sure it works yet in this new form.)

Update: The clef mode definitely doesn't work at this point...it will be easy to repair though.Update: Here is version 0.59.5 for manual installation:funiculus_0_59_5.zipI corrected the typo I made in the source code concerning "Clef Mode", and so it should work now. And I've added a bunch of tunings. (Version 0.59.5 corrects a few tunings, for those of you who downloaded 0.59.0 in the two minutes it was posted.)

Tuning recommendations:If you want to recommend a tuning to be included in the "fretboard mode", please post a comment or email me, naming the strings from top (physically...the string closest to the sky when a standard right-hander holds the instrument) to bottom. For each string, give the letter and the octave number (with Middle C equal to C4...remember that each new octave begins on C.) Don't forget to include the name of the octave and the instrument.

It should be up on Installer soon...the repository (ModMyiFone.com) is currently redoing its server, so it should be about Wednesday. You can use the link above to manually install it via SSH. Don't forget to set permissions on the folder and the executable.

It's not out yet, but the next version of Funiculus will have some rather large changes.

The biggest change is not the most obvious...it's the note detection algorithm. It's completely new, and it works a whole lot better. For me, it's accurate almost 100% of the time...and I'm working on those few little parts of a second that sometimes register the wrong octave. (Note: even when it shows the wrong note, the pitch meter may still be accurate...it uses a different system.)

The second biggest change is something I've gotten rid of...namely, the manual-select-a-string mode. I think it's somewhat obsolete, especially with the new algorithm. The settings menu is currently a big blank screen...any suggestions you have for what should be there, please comment (and soon).

The third biggest change, probably the graphics.

The fourth biggest change is that it's responsive to the home button, etc, and it exits properly when pressed. Before I release this version, I'm going to have an auto-shutoff feature that will shut it off in case you forget about it. And I plan on having it shutoff if someone puts the phone to sleep without exiting first.

I also may add the musical staff note system I have setup for the as-of-yet-unreleased sister program, Crooner. Again, any requests, please let me know in the next few days.

If you can't get Funiculus (or Erica Sadun's VoiceNotes) to work, specifically, sound doesn't seem to register on the meter (the vertical bar), you can try going into iPhone settings and resetting to the defaults. (You may have to do this twice...not sure why.)

(Restoring probably won't do anything because the problem may be a preference file setting...these things are synced back after a restore, so you still have the same settings.)